Love, Frost
by dyingrosebuds
Summary: Jack considers himself just like everyone else at Burgess high. He hangs out with his best friends- Merida, Punzie, and Elsa- and does normal high school things, like drinking way too much coffee and laughing at terrible jokes. But when someone on the school confessional comes out as gay, Jack comes face to face with the fact that there is someone just like him. (Hiccup x Jack)
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note- I do not own any of the characters unless I have stated so. I used Love, Simon (the beginning preface) as a base for this story. I hope you like it!

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

It was a cliche way to start the day, but it's the only kind of alarm that would wake the sleeping boy. Jack rolled over and grabbed his phone, mumbling something about how the school system was stupid for making him get up this early. He slid the snooze, his eyes hazy. He shoved his face back into his pillow for a silent moment, sighing, before rolling out of bed drowsily.

He lazily got ready for the day, washing his pure white hair and looking in the mirror. He clapped his cheeks a few times to wake himself up, as much as he disdained it. It was half-past 7, and school started at 8, so he didn't have much time to eat. Instead, he waited outside for his ride.

For the longest time, Jack rode the big yellow school bus that came bumbling down Mainstreet each morning at 7:15. He was grateful that he didn't have to anymore. Merida rolled around the corner, with her big, fiery hair practically blinding against the overcast morning. Jack smiled halfheartedly. He had only known her for a short while, since she'd moved in a few months ago practically across the universe- or just from Scotland, but same difference in Virginia- but it seemed like their blatant sarcasm only brought them closer.

"Oi, Jackson, yer gonna be late fer school if ya don't pick up yer feet!" She rolled down the window and laughed. "Hurry up, today's Wednesday, I want my coffee!" Jack chuckled and hopped into the passenger's seat. Merida sped out of the driveway and onto the road.

"So, how are you?"

Jack set his bag down at his feet. "I'm okay, I guess."

Merida glanced at him with her eyebrow raised. "Yah, and my dad's a ballet dancer. What's up with you?"

Jack sighed slightly. "It's nothing. I tried to focus and study for the test last night, but you know how bad I am at hard work and deadlines."

"Hah, that's true. Maybe when yeh get home you can sleep."

Jack cocked his head at Merida. "You know I can't do that. Gothel would kill me. Call me a lazy-ass and whatnot."

"Eh. Who cares about yer grades, anyway?" She stared ahead for a moment at the road, her smile disappearing and her expression turning to sympathy. "You are more important. You gotta take care of yerself, Jack. I mean it."

Jack looked down for a moment. "It's alright. I'm okay."

The car was silent. The kind of silence where neither party knew what to say, for fear of screwing up or making things even more awkward.

Merida turned into the second driveway, the tires screeching as she slammed the break. Jack laughed once the car had stopped. "You need to lay off the speed, one day you're gonna get yourself killed," he said, and although he said it in a joking manner, he really did mean it deep down.

"Humbug," Merida retorted. "Ah, there she is." A girl came running out of the front door of the house. Merida smirked, and just before the girl opened the door to the car, she snapped the lock on.

"Oh, come on!" The girl said through the window. "Merida, that is so old."

"Yet yah still fell for it!" She stuck out her tongue jokingly, before opening the door. "You're so gullible, yer like my mum!"

"Ah, piss off, Merida."

"Anything for you, your highness."

"Hey, Jack, can you hit her for me?"

Jack laughed. "Come on, Punzie, you're not the violent type."

"Nah, I was kidding." She pulled her long blonde hair up into a ponytail, as Merida pulled out of the driveway.

"Last stop," Merida said, finally parking in another driveway, two streets down. "Then coffee."

The white-haired girl was already waiting, with a braid and a halter top dress. She hopped in on the other side. "Why are you all so late?"

"What do you mean, late? It's 7:45." Jack raised his brow, smiling jokingly.

"You're usually here at 7:40."

"Ah, Elsa, stop bein' so uptight, I swear ya got a rod up yer ass."

The whole car laughed as they drove to their favorite coffee shop, 'Sundrop Coffee'. Merida ordered for them. "I'll have two iced vanilla lattes, one hot chocolate, and a caramel macchiato."

The coffee was fast and came in a cardboard cupholder.

"So, how are all of you on this slightly boring morning?"

"Slightly? I'd say it's severely boring. Could have at least had rain. That would have been better than this." Merida snorted at Punzie's comment.

"So I'll take that as you're tired," Elsa teased. "You're usually all sunshine and rainbows."

"Honestly, yeah. Midterms are next week and I don't know how I'm gonna do. I've got two B's and 3 A minuses."

"Pfff, that's nothing," Merida laughed, "I've got 4 C's, a D, an F, and two B's."

"Uh, Merida?" Elsa giggled. "That's not a good thing."

"Ah know, ah know, but I'll figure it out. The archery team can't exactly kick me off." Merida wiggled her eyebrows. "You all know I'm the best."

"More like the cockiest."

Everyone laughed, but Jack sat in the passenger seat, staring out the window at the passing cars and houses. His iced coffee sat in the cupholder, still full. He wondered if he'd be able to pass the test today.

"Jack?"

Jack blinked, looking back at the rest of the people. Elsa was the one who'd spoken. The car was dead silent, but for the radio that played quietly in the background. "You okay?"

It was quiet for a moment.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I'm just tired."

"You sure? Jack, you look dreadful."

"Thanks, Punzie."

"You know what I mean."

"No, I'm fine. Really. Just stressed and tired, that's all."

The car was quiet for the rest of the way to the school.

"Well, I hope you dorks have a good day at school. Don't die." Merida winked.

"Merida, that was the cringiest face I've ever seen."

"Oh, sod off!"

Jack walked the halls like he always did when he wasn't with his friends: invisibly. Nobody talked to or acknowledged him. He felt like a ghost sometimes. Like his friends were the only ones who ever saw him. Jack felt more like a watcher than anything. He'd watch people and everything around him. He cracked jokes in class a lot, but he doubted half the class knew his name.

He sat in third period, hardly listening to the teacher drone on. He tried to listen, and every few minutes he'd sit up and try to take notes, but it felt like everything was moving too fast, and he'd give up quickly and go back to scribbling little patterns in the corners of his lined paper.

Most teachers didn't care much for him. This one especially. Mr. Stutzman held the firm belief that if you wanted something to change, you had to do it yourself. He prefaced the beginning of the course by saying 'I won't baby you, you're young adults and can do your own work and pay attention. If you fail, it will be because you have not reached out for help or have simply failed to do the work required of you.'

Jack thought it made sense. He certainly liked it better than the teachers who were always on his back. He couldn't focus at all during the school day, but when he got home he could generally figure things out by reading it himself and doing the homework. Even still, he had three C's and two D's, and two A's. This class was a C.

Jack scoffed to himself. "C's get degrees," He mumbled under his breath. Nobody heard him. He could make himself heard when he wanted to, but most of the time nobody really listened. Stutzman droned on about relativity, while he sat staring at the board without any of it sinking in.

The bell rang loudly, but Jack didn't move, knowing that Stutzman hadn't assigned the night's homework.

"The bell doesn't dismiss you, I do!" He boomed, forcing the others back to their seats with a groan. "Tonight's homework is to read page 394 in your textbooks and do the paired assignment on relativity. Have a good day."

Everyone sprung out of their seats and filed out of the door. Jack slowly picked up his bag and sketchbooks. He was almost out of the door when he heard a voice behind him.

"Overland. Come here."

He furrowed his brow. He hadn't done anything wrong, had he? He turned around to face his teacher. His heart beat in his ears.

"Sit."

He did as he was instructed, but cautiously, as if to not make any sudden movements and scare away the birds.

"I don't usually do this kind of thing, Jack. But you've got a C in my class, and I know you can do better than that. The only thing weighing your grade is your personal management. You can't seem to focus, and when you are, you crack jokes instead of letting the material sink in." He leaned forward on his messy desk, propping himself up on his elbows. "But you've been overly distracted lately. You haven't said anything. You seem distant." He paused, sighing a bit. "Listen, Jack, I know you're in a rough situation. But you need to try harder. I've checked the rest of your grades, and I know you can do better than this. There's a tutoring club after school on Wednesdays, and I wanted to recommend you come in next week- or today, if you can. It isn't mandatory, but I'd like to see you improve."

Jack stared at him blankly. He wasn't sure how to respond.

"I feel like you can do more than you're letting on, that's all. As much of a face I put on in class, I do care about my students. Here's a note to your next class. If you hustle you won't be late."

Jack lifted his hand slowly and took the note. "Thanks," he said, almost in a questioning tone. He walked away, into the bustling halls. _Was it really that obvious? That something was different now?_

He shook his head and tried to let the thought out. He didn't want to think about it.

He made it to his locker, where his randomized locker buddy, Sandy, was standing. He only knew his name because it was written on half of his things. His binder, his books, everything was labeled. Sandy didn't talk- Jack wasn't sure if he could. He had spiky golden hair and hazel eyes and was almost a foot shorter than Jack. He always said hello to him, and Sandy always smiled and waved back.

"Hi Sandy," Jack said, and the boy turned around and faced him, smiling, waving and walking away as usual. Then, he tapped his wristwatch, nodding at Jack, then left. Jack watched him walk away for a second, before grabbing his next textbook.

The four sat quietly eating in the otherwise noisy cafeteria. "So, how's everyone's day?" Punzie asked. She received only a groan in response. "That bad, huh," she mumbled to herself.

"There was a fight in the girls' bathroom."

"What? Really?"

"Yeah, it didn't get physical though. Almost. Not quite." Merida took a big bite out of her apple, her hair bouncing in her way.

"Say, Jack, how do yah feel about only having girl friends?"

Jack looked up. He had been completely checked out until Merida asked. "I… I don't know, I think it's fine. Why wouldn't it be?"

"I dunno, some sort of sexist bullshit."

"Hey, mind if I sit with you guys?"

A tall boy with shaggy brown hair and eyes was the source of the voice, standing behind Jack. He had a chiseled jawline and some stubble. "Oh, sure!" Punzie said, before anyone else could object. She patted the seat next to her.

"Sorry, I'm new here," the boy said as he sat down. "The name's Flynn."

"Nice to meet you," Punzie smiled and held out her hand, "My name's Rapunzel, but most people just call me Punzie."

The rest of the group stared at Punzie, cringing internally and hoping the boy wouldn't be a bother. "This is Merida, Elsa, and Jack."

"So, are you two like a couple or something?" Flynn asked, looking at Elsa and Jack.

"What?! No, uhm," they both said in unison.

"Oh, sorry, I just though because of the hair."

"Well, hers is natural. Mine's bleached. It's a funny story actually." Jack laughed quietly to himself thinking about how when they had been 12, Elsa had been made fun of for her bright blonde hair, and how Jack had countered by dying his hair white. Since then, he'd grown to like the look, and decided to keep it.

"Ha ha, yeah, totally." Elsa kicked Jack under the table before he started saying anything, and Jack resisted the urge to yelp. "So, Flynn, where are you from?"

"Well, I'm from across town. I got kicked out of my other school."

Elsa and Jack looked at each other, both wondering how they'd gotten into the mess of befriending someone who got expelled.

"Oh, that's awful! Why?" Punzie maintained her bubbly attitude.

"I got in a big mess with these two thieves. They framed me."

"That's awful."

"Do you believe that?" Jack mumbled to Elsa.

"Of course not," Elsa said back.

But soon, Flynn and Punzie were talking away, leaving the three to a different conversation.

"Well, I guess that works out," Merida said, putting her hair up in a ponytail.

"I guess so. Let's just hope he was telling the truth." Elsa fiddled with her braid, before Merida's hair tie snapped.

"Damn!"

"Language," Elsa said.

"Did you just say 'language', Agnarr?"

Jack snorted.

"Jack, go on the school website, there's this huge scoop in the confessional. Everyone's talking about it."

Jack was puzzled. Elsa had called her about the school newspaper? Then again, this is Elsa. To her, anything is big. "What is it?"

"Just do it, Jack. Trust me, it's crazy."

Jack groaned lightly. "You're really gonna make me look it up?"

"It's better if you read it yourself."

He grumbled a little, hopping on his crappy laptop- he got it on craigslist with some of the money he got from his summer job- and going to the website. The newspaper crew had decided a few years back that it would be more paper-efficient to move their writing online. Since then, there'd been a few wild things in the confessional letters.

Jack mumbled to himself, clicking on the confessional section, and waiting for it to load. "Elsa, if this isn't good, I'll push you into the lake," He said into his phone.

"Aw, c'mon, Jack. You wouldn't."

"I've done it before, remember?"

"Yeah, but you know how much I hated it."

"Oh, here it is. It finally loaded."

Jack started to read. He furrowed his brow.

"Crazy, isn't it?"

"Elsa, I'll call you back. Uhm, Gothel's calling."

"I don't hear anythi-" Jack hung up before she could finish, his heart beating so fast in his chest that he wasn't sure how he wasn't having a heart attack.

Dear Burgess High,

I'm just like the rest of you. I go to school, maybe do some of my work, drink too much coffee. Except, every day I feel like nobody would ever like me if they knew about me. I feel like I'll be hated. Like I'm on some sort of hellish ride of fear where everything's okay as I climb to the top until I get to the huge 90 degree drop and hit rock bottom. So, I guess this is me saying it out loud. Nobody, not my parents, not my friends, not my teachers, nobody knows that I'm gay.

-Red

Jack stared in disbelief. He read the final line over and over again. Usually, the confessional had girls crying about their boyfriends, or drama, or straight up feelings. But never this. Burgess had so much homophobic background, the majority of students were brought up in christian beliefs, and because of that it was unspeakable to, well, be gay.

He reread and felt his ears grow hot as he clicked on the email link in the corner of the confessional.

He stared at his screen, where an open message sat blinking.

He typed, then shook his head. "God, this is stupid." He typed again, nodding silently until his message was done. Then he deleted it again, and restarted. His nerves were bunched and he didn't know how to say it right.

He stood, running his fingers through his hair and back over his face. He bit his lip, then tapped send.

Dear Red,

I'm just like you. I've been holding everything in for the last few years, and it's the biggest secret I have. Not even my friends know that I'm gay too.

-Frost


	2. Chapter 2

Jack tapped his pencil on his homework rapidly as he read and re-read the same paragraph of his English homework. For some reason, all of the words blended together, and none of them made sense.

He'd slammed his laptop shut the moment he'd sent the message, and it still sat at the edge of his desk, almost taunting him. He'd signed into the new account on his phone, and it seemed as if his ears were hyper-tuned to any noise it made. He'd gotten a handful of notifications, including a coupon for bath and body works in his spam mail and a message from one of his (fairly inactive) social media accounts.

He stood up, slamming his pencil down in frustration. "God, damn it…" He ran his fingers through his messy hair. He looked at the clock. It had only been an hour since he sent the message to the mysterious Red.

"Who am I kidding," he mumbled, under his breath. "He's probably not even going to respond."

Jack groaned, looking up at the ceiling with his hands on his head. He closed his blue eyes, trying to calm his beating heart. It hadn't stopped racing since he first read the confession. He'd never told anyone in his life since he realized his identity, even though sometimes his tongue itched to scream it from the rooftops.

He slumped back into his chair, head in his hands. He felt stupid, ridiculous for ever thinking that anyone would ever believe or listen to him, or even talk to him about that kind of thing for that matter.

"Jack?"  
He opened his eyes and looked up from the desk. He looked around at the small, empty room and knew he was hearing things that weren't there. He knew they weren't, because _she_ couldn't be there. Shaking his head, he bit his lip and looked out of his window at the moon.

Round and full, the moon was peeking through breaks in the cloudcover. He liked to believe that maybe there was someone out there; just listening. He knew there wasn't, which is why he didn't count the moon as someone he'd confessed to.

He chuckled to himself. _I'm so stupid, talking to the goddamn moon instead of talking to my friends._

Jack had contemplated it. Dozens of times. Some nights, he'd stay up staring at the ceiling, going over the scenario in his head. Coming out to his friends. Sometimes, he'd imagine it going well, with acceptance all around, but mostly he just thought up all the millions of ways it could go wrong. He needed his friends, he felt alone enough already. He didn't need to lose anyone else.

"Hey Manny." He sighed, glancing down at his homework. "I really wish you were real. Or that you could talk back to me. I could really use someone right now. I know that doesn't mean anything, since I'm talking to a literal floating hunk of space rock hundreds of miles away, but…

"Please let things get better. Even if you're not real, if there's a god or something who's listening, please. I don't know how I can do this for another year and a half."

His voice faded out, and the crickets filled the empty silence. He closed his eyes. _I don't know what I expected._

Jack woke up the next morning fifteen minutes before his alarm went off. For a few moments, all was still and Jack felt nothing but the drowsiness in his eyes. Then the events of the previous night rolled back into his head, and suddenly the drowsiness was gone. He pulled out his phone from under his pillow, only to see no new messages. Sinking back into his pillow, he turned his phone back off.

Every noise he heard, when he was in the shower, eating breakfast, even standing outside waiting for Merida, he would anxiously peek at his phone, thinking it could be a message. But it was nothing, no new messages. Every time.

Merida pulled up in the driveway, and Jack hopped into the passenger's seat, setting his bag at his feet. "Ey, freezy boy."

"What?"

"Just saying 'ello in the mornin', is that a crime?"

"Oh, hello." Jack pulled out his phone again, glancing at the empty lockscreen.

Merida drove for a minute, before snapping her fingers right in front of Jack's face. "Oi, earth to Jack."

Jack looked up, laughing a bit. "What? I'm totally good. I'm fine."

"Whatever you say, Overland."

Punzie hopped into the car. "Hey, guys, I had the _weirdest_ dream last night."

Jack smiled and looked back at the blonde-haired girl. "You have the 'weirdest' dream _every_ night, Punzie."

"No, seriously, this one was sooo weird, I was on the bachelorette, and one of the guys was like holding hands with another dude and it was so _gay_!"

Jack blinked, then said nothing but "Oh," while Merida laughed along.

Usually those kind of things didn't faze Jack so much, how people would spit the word "gay" like it was an insult, but just the sheer fact that it was Punzie and Merida made him want to shrivel from anxiety.

Elsa got in the car, and Punzie repeated her story, all the while Jack sat silently, checking his phone every two minutes.

No messages.

The clock seemed to tick extra slow today. His math teacher droned on while Jack anxiously scribbled and filled in the spaces in the letters on his notebook.

He felt his phone buzz.

His eyes opened a little wider as he slowly snuck his phone out of his pocket, but the teacher turned and Jack shoved his phone back in his pocket before he could see.

"Anyone?"

Jack raised his hand.

"Yes, Jack!" The teacher pointed at him.

"Can I go to the bathroom?" Jack said, a bit of anxiety laced into his voice.

"Oh. Yeah. Does anyone have the answer?"

Jack got up and walked out of the classroom, speeding to the bathrooms. Once he got in, he checked under the stalls before locking himself in one. He opened his phone, tapping on the app.

No messages.

"What?" He mumbled in frustration. He was sure he'd felt something. Positive, he thought. Now he was just making things up again.

He sighed and walked back to class.

"Ew, I just found a press on nail in my salad!" Punzie groaned.

The girls looked at each other, then over at the salad bar.

"Debbie."

Jack would have laughed with them- or, well, gagged- but he was too busy looking down at his phone. It kept giving him a "cannot connect" message, and he'd tried refreshing the page. He was frustrated, and he swiped up multiple times to refresh again, but it just lagged.

"God, why is there no cell reception in this school?" Jack said, standing up, grabbing his bag, and walking away, leaving his full lunchtray and three confused girls.

He walked through the halls, trying to get a signal. His frustration only grew as nothing showed up.

"Jackson!" The principal of the school cheered, snatching Jack's phone out of his hand. Jack felt his heart rate increase and his stomach sink as he remembered the rules. "What are you doing, you know that there's no cell phones in the halls."

"Yeah, Mr. Peterson, I know but-"

"No buts!" He walked away with his phone in his hand. "You can collect it from me after school," he called, holding up his phone and swinging it back and forth.

Jack grumbled and walked to his next class.

"Hey, Merida." A voice came from behind Jack, aimed for the fire-haired girl that stood next to him.

"Oh. Hi, Percy."

The lanky, black-haired boy stood uncomfortably between Merida and Jack, his elbow resting on Jack's door, keeping it shut.

"Hey, could you move your-"

"So, Merida, I'm excited for our next competition. I'm sure I'll hit all bullseyes this time. I've been practicing."

"Cool." Merida was completely and entirely disinterested.

"You doing anything after that meet?"

"Nope."

"Wanna-"

"Listen, Percy, I gotta go. C'mon, Jack."

Percy glared and smacked shoulders as he walked away from Jack, grumbling the whole time. "That was idiotic," Jack said to Sandy, who rolled his eyes and nodded. He grabbed his things and walked away happily.

"Hold up, Merida. I have to get my phone."

"Hurry up, I want to get home so I can sleep for like, four hours."

Jack rushed into the office and to the Principal's office. He knocked lightly on Peterson's door, peeking in. The man looked up. "Ah, Jack." He opened his drawer, which was full of several collected phones. He outstretched his phone, and just before Jack was about to take it, he pulled it back, raising his eyebrow.

"Yeah, I know, no texting in the halls. Got it."

Peterson nodded and handed his phone back.

Jack eagerly opened it.

No notifications.

 **Ding!**

Jack looked up, opening his eyes. His phone sat in the corner of his desk, lit up with a notification. He glanced out of his window, blinked, then grabbed his phone and opened the message.

 _Dear Frost,_

 _You too, huh? It feels good to know that there's someone else out there like me. Even if I don't know who you are. It's just reassuring I guess, knowing I'm not alone. So, how did you find out? I realized when I was thirteen and fantasizing about Harry Potter that I realized, well, yeah, uhhhhh definitely not straight… Anyway, I'm curious._

 _-Red_

Jack laughed, and started typing.

 _Dear Red,_

 _I totally know what you mean, about knowing there's someone else out there. I realized that I was gay when I was with my first girlfriend in the 8th grade. I was at a dance, and she said she was falling in love with me, and I was like "uh thanks be right back"... I left the dance. Not my proudest moment._

 _Do you have any interests? I just wonder if we have anything in common. Other than the gayness, of course._

 _-Frost_

It was weird, sending such information over email under a pseudonym. But somehow, he felt… Relieved. He knew it would still be hard to hide himself at school, but he felt maybe it wouldn't be so bad, having someone else to talk to. To be open to.

Of course being gay wasn't everything in Jack's life, but it was a part of him, and it was terrifying knowing that the world might not like him for who he was. _Then again,_ he thought, _I'm practically invisible at school anyway._

But he knew that he'd take nothing over disapproving glances and potential bullies. He wondered who the boy on the other side was, and he wondered if he'd ever know. Did he know him? What if he already knew the person? What if it was some asshole?

He'd calmed down for a moment, but his heart was beating wildly again. Anxiety was something that silently plagued Jack, and he never really showed it. Oftentimes, he'd spend hours thinking and rethinking made-up scenarios, wondering how people would react.

Sometimes, Jack wondered if anyone would notice if he disappeared.

Of course, he knew they would- his friends would know. But a part of him still feared that they were better off without him. He laid down in bed, leaning his head back and covering his eyes with his forearm.

 **Ding!**

He pulled his phone out of his hoodie pocket. Another message already.

 _Dear Frost,_

 _That's pretty funny. Of course I have interests, other than guys. (Sorry, that was lame, I know)._

Jack chuckled to himself. It wasn't lame at all, in fact it was his kind of humor: blatant sarcasm.

 _I like drawing and sculpting. Mostly dragons. I like designing and making new things, and I've made some ceramic sculptures of dragons that I've drawn. It's pretty fun. Some people think it's lame, but I don't. I also like music, mostly alternative and soft stuff. I've always wanted to play guitar, but I don't have one so I can't really learn._

 _What about you? You never talked about your interests._

 _-Red_

Jack smiled. He seemed nice, and besides, he was taking an art class this year. Maybe he knew whoever it was, even if only by face.

"Christ almighty, Jack, you look worse than ya did yesterday," Merida said, her eyebrow raised.

"Yet he's still smiling."

"Thank you, Elsa, for the great input." Jack smiled and rolled his eyes. "You know you don't have to talk about me in the third person? Like? I'm in the room?"

"Yeah yeah, tenses are hard." Elsa punched his shoulder lightly, smiling, but a moment later the smile faded and she looked at her full lunch tray.

"So what's up with you? I swear to god, you're like, lost in thought. And always on yer phone."

Jack shook his head. "It's nothing." His phone dinged again, and Merida and Jack looked at each other for a moment before diving for the phone. Merida got there first, and pulled it away from his pale hand.

"Hey, c'mon, give it back?"

"Why? Got somethin' to hide, Overland?" She tapped at his phone, grinning at it.

"I told you, it's nothing." His heart rate increased again. "Just give me my phone back."

"Damn, what's your code?"

"Like he'd tell you, Meri," Elsa said, trying to aide her friend. "Just give it back, yeah?"

"It says he's got a message. Ooo, who is it? Some lucky lassie dating mister frosty hair?"

Elsa looked at Jack, her face sinking again, while Jack pursed his lips, only slightly angered at the comment.

"Come on, Merida, grow up. Give the phone back."

"Ugh, fine, you're all such a buzzkill." Merida held out the phone to Jack, but just before he'd grabbed it, she pulled it away. Jack glared at her harshly. "Jesus, no need to take out yer relationship problems on me."

Jack took the phone. He looked over at Punzie, who was eating her food and talking to the rugged boy from far away. Flynn was telling her a story and making huge gestures with his hands. She was pretty invested, with her head resting on her elbow and eyes wide.

Since nobody was saying anything, Jack listened in.

"-was friends with them, we would do stupid stuff, like hide people's bags and generally prank people like that. But they totally screwed me over when they stole something and got me wrapped up, which isn't what I liked doing. You know?"

"Oh, that's awful. I don't know how that feels, but I know that it wasn't your fault."

"Hey, Flynn, mind if I asked what you stole?" Jack cocked his head. Merida and Elsa gave him a questioning look.

Flynn put his hands up defensively. "First of all, I didn't steal it. They framed me. Second, it was one of the school's brand new laptops. They stuck it in my bag."

"Ah. So it looked like you supposedly stole it."

"They found it. They were searching all of the troublemakers, which I won't deny I was. I try not to now- to be one, I mean. I don't like getting kicked out much."

"Makes sense."

Flynn shrugged and went back to telling his story. As he spoke, Jack zoned out in thought. He opened his messages and read it.

 _Dear Frost,_

 _That sucks that you have to deal with a crappy foster mom. My mom's all I have, and I can't imagine losing her. She supports me all she can, but she barely makes enough for us to afford rent. I've been looking to get a job. I want to help her so that we can both live more comfortably. I can't afford college, which really sucks, but that's life._

 _If I could go to college, I'd be an engineer. I like drawing out new ideas and building and all that kind of hands-on kind of stuff. School's really expensive, though, so I try not to think about my dream job and instead focus on getting any job at all. I've applied to 3 places this week. I hope at least someone takes me._

 _Have you ever had a job?_

 _-Red_

Jack sighed. It made him sad that this guy couldn't fulfill his dreams. Then again, Jack couldn't either, so he knew what it felt like.  
They'd been talking all night. The email thread had 79 messages already, back and forth between the two. Jack had to admit, he really liked the guy. He was nice, and funny, and seemed talented. He just wished he could see Red, this unknown face was swimming in his head.

He looked around the cafeteria and wondered who it could be, before his eyes landed on Flynn. He was still extravagantly talking to Punzie, who was also still invested. The thought crossed his mind, and he furrowed his brows.

 _Could it be him?_

Jack looked at Flynn. He had a chiseled jawline with stubble and brown eyes and a unique nose. He kept smiling, even though he was telling a sad story. Flynn glanced at Jack and smiled a little, before looking back at Punzie.

Jack wasn't sure how to feel about it. It could be Flynn, but it could also be half of the other guys at Burgess High. Jack entertained the idea.

He imagined Flynn's voice speaking the words that Red had written him. He thought about his face, smiling and laughing. How his eyes lit up all the time.

 _No, it couldn't be him. He just got here. Red said he lived here his whole life._

Jack sighed and shook his head slightly. _I'm so gay, jesus._

Jack didn't like riding the bus, but he had to today, since Merida had an archery competition. He sat in the first empty seat he could, putting his light blue headphones over his ears and pressing play on his favorite music. Jack loved alternative and indie music. He sought out songs and artists that were less listened to, and maybe that made him kind of a hipster, but he didn't care much. He just liked to support the lesser known artists, rather than flocking to the norm.

Besides, he did listen to a few normie bands- Panic! At the Disco and Coldplay to name a couple. He'd always wanted to see one of them in concert, since he'd been a long-time fan of both. But money was always short, since he only had a summer job, and he went out with his friends a lot.

For a lot of his life, Jack considered himself friendless. He'd try to brighten people's day and crack sarcastic jokes and compliments disguised as insults, but he sat alone at lunch with his sketchbook as his only companion.

He wasn't sure why he had such a hard time making friends. Maybe he'd just been looking for approval, for acknowledgement, instead of people who actually cared. Or maybe the school was so big that he was always on the wrong side of the cliques.

Elsa was his best and only friend, but she went to a private christian school for her elementary and middle school years until she finally convinced her parents to let her go to public school. Even still, Elsa and Jack were inseperable. But lately, Jack had felt like she was drifting away from him. He didn't know how to confront her about it, or if he should. It seemed like she was quieter, less of the fun-loving, would-do-anything-for-anyone kind of person.

His thoughts blended together with the music as he looked out of the cold window, rain dripping down the side. Guitar chords hummed into his ears, and Jack sighed, making condensation on the window.

The bus stopped every few minutes, until the bus was nearly empty save for him and a few other kids. Finally, they stopped at his streetcorner, and he walked off of the bus steps into a puddle, soaking his shoes. He groaned lightly, then put his blue hood up, trudging down the street in sopping wet shoes.

He made it to his house, a small one-story. The yard was well-kept, with green grass and a water accessory in the corner by the porch, and flowerbeds that were colorful and alive. The house was bright yellow, with a black door. It reminded Jack of a beehive.

He took off his shoes at the front door, hoping they'd dry off by morning. He opened the creaky door and walked inside, where everything was perfectly clean as usual. The living room had pillows in each corner of the couch, each lamp was perfectly centered on its stand, the freshly picked flowers sat meticulously placed in a vase that sat on the coffee table. The light marble in the kitchen was shining brightly.

Jack laughed a little when he walked into his room. It certainly wasn't the messiest room he'd been in- Merida's triplet brothers' room was _really_ bad- and it wasn't even disorganized. But it wasn't perfect, either. There were pencils splayed out on his black desk, his bed wasn't perfectly made, his chair wasn't pushed all the way in, the paint didn't match the curtains, the posters were pinned up and unframed. The kind of things that Gothel despised.

Jack didn't love his room. It was relatively small, with a closet on one side, a bed on the other, and a desk sitting beneath his window. He dropped his heavy bag on one side of his desk, and sat in the rolling chair before taking his hood off and pulling his phone out of his pocket.

No new messages.

He felt his heart sink a little bit. He felt a wave of loneliness wash over him as he wondered if anyone wanted to talk to him today. Or ever.

"Jack, what is wrong with your room?!" Jack turned around and looked at his foster mother. She looked around as if his room was covered in blood and dog shit.

"Nothing, Gothel."

"I told you, I am your mother, call me such."

"No, you're my foster mom. I don't have to do anything."

Gothel glared. "Clean your room. I have guests coming tonight."

"And my room's got something to do with that?"

"Do it, or else I'll take away your phone and your laptop." She shut the door loudly, leaving Jack to grumble and clean.


End file.
